Landmark building to house apartments

Wednesday

Nov 14, 2012 at 12:01 AM

TUSCALOOSA | Weeks after a major developer received the OK to build a new $27 million Embassy Suites hotel downtown, another developer has announced plans for a major restoration of a landmark building across the street from the future hotel.

By Patrick RupinskiBusiness Editor

TUSCALOOSA | Weeks after a major developer received the OK to build a new $27 million Embassy Suites hotel downtown, another developer has announced plans for a major restoration of a landmark building across the street from the future hotel.Heritage Land and Development Co. LLC of Memphis, Tenn., said Tuesday that it has bought the PNC Building and will convert the top eight floors of the 10-story tower into 100 one- and two-bedroom apartments, representing a $15 million investment.The PNC Building is on the northeast corner of University Boulevard and Greensboro Avenue and was the first office tower in Tuscaloosa. The building dates back to 1925 and has been home to a number of banks since then, with offices on its upper floors.John Glassell, a partner in Heritage Land and Development Co. LLC, the building’s new owner, said PNC Bank will remain on the first two floors. The upper floors will be gutted and renovated into apartments with the first apartments ready to rent in August 2013.“We are targeting the young professionals in Tuscaloosa,” he said Tuesday afternoon at the news conference announcing the renovation.Glassell said he and his partner, William Yandell, see the building as a long-term investment that will generate rental income. He said they have no interest in converting the building into condominiums or selling it once it is refurbished.He said the rent charged will be comparable to the area’s rental market, but he did not give a range.City Councilman Bobby Howard described Heritage Land’s plan as “a monumental announcement that will change the scene of downtown Tuscaloosa.”And Mayor Walt Maddox said it represented the fruition of downtown redevelopment.“I think back to 2005, when we began our infrastructure investment for the downtown and many wondered if it would stand the test of time,” he said. “Over the last few years, there was a question mark on what would happen with this building,” he said. “This corner has been ‘Main and Main’ for Tuscaloosa for 100 years, and I think with this announcement today, it will be ‘Main and Main’ for the next 100 years.”Glassell took note of the mayor’s description and said he had been at a loss at what to name the redevelopment. “That’s what we should call it, “Main and Main,” he said.Glassell and Yandell have restored other buildings across the country, including the recent restoration of the historic Cotton Council Building in Memphis, which now houses apartments. This is their first project in Tuscaloosa.Yandell said he spotted the building several years ago while visiting his son, who was a student at the University of Alabama. He said the two were dining at Chuck’s Fish on Greensboro Avenue when the building caught his eye.It fit in with the other restorations he and Glassell have done and he said they started researching Tuscaloosa and the potential for the project.Heritage Land bought the building from Nell Wright and her daughter, Kelly Wright Hurd.“My mother and I are thrilled that the new buyer group shares the vision of my late father, Mr. Ed Wright, in that this upscale development will create a lasting positive legacy for downtown Tuscaloosa,” Hurd said in a prepared statement.Business tenants on some of the building’s upper floors rent by the month and have been advised of the new owners’ plans, which include gutting the interior floors starting in January and then renovating them into apartments, the new owners said. Plans call for an on-site gym for the apartments’ tenants, 24-hour card-access security, new elevators and furnished and unfurnished apartments.Yandell said most of the apartments will have views of the Tuscaloosa Amphitheater or Bryant-Denny Stadium, and a selling point will be access to the downtown’s restaurants, entertainment venues and retailers.Maddox also noted that point. “There will be a minimum of at least 100 new people living in the 100 apartments,” he said. “This type of investment helps our city, our downtown. It also helps businesses like The Shirt Shop, The Pants Store and our restaurants that have made a commitment to the downtown.”The landmark tower has been most identified with the city’s banking history for almost 100 years.It was designed by architect D.O.; Whilldin, who also designed the Bama Theatre, the Alabama Bookstore. Winsborough Hall at Stillman College and several UA fraternity and sorority houses as well as homes in the city’s historic district.When it opened just before the Great Depression, it was home to Merchants Bank and Trust Co., which later was acquired by the First National Bank of Tuskaloosa. AmSouth Bank later acquired First National and made the bank building its center of operations in Tuscaloosa.When AmSouth merged with Regions, federal regulators required the combined banks to divest of some of its banks in Tuscaloosa and other markets where both banks had major operations.The bank was then sold to RBC Centura Bank. PNC Bank acquired the U.S. banks of RBC (the former Royal Bank of Canada) in 2011 and placed its sign on the building earlier this year.

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